'Gaslighting' Is Merriam-Webster's Word Of 2022

Merriam-Webster said that in light of increasing fake news and misinformation, there was a 1740% increase in look-ups for the word.

The dictionary defines the word as, "Psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one's emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator."

Merriam-Webster said that it chose the particular word as it had become useful to describe modern situations of deception and manipulation "such as fake news, deepfake, and artificial intelligence".

The term 'gaslighting' emerged from a play of the same name where the protagonist attempted to make his wife believe that she was losing her sanity.

The man in the play would manipulate the wife by dimming their home's gas lights. But when the wife pointed this out, he would insist that there was nothing wrong with the lights.